Domestic Ham
by Fantom Of The Fiction
Summary: A series of one-shots from the domestic life of the Murder family. Hannigram, Sassy Science Husbands.
1. Making Lunch

**A/N: I was wondering when I would finally write a Hannibal fanfiction, and lo and behold, I wrote one not five hours later. This fanfiction will be slightly AU and minorly cracky, but that's to be expected when writing about a serial killer and his mentally unstable husband.**

As Hannibal Lecter left the world of sleep and entered the world on consciousness, he instinctively moved closer to the source of warmth nearest him. That source of warmth was his husband of almost one year, Will Graham. He pulled the smaller man to his chest, wrapping his arm around his husband's waist, nuzzling his face into the crook of Will's neck, sighing away some of the groggy feeling of sleep. Will shifted slightly, but did not wake up. Hannibal had expected that to be the case; he and Will had a few rounds of lovemaking the night before, and he knew that Will would be exhausted from it.

After a few minutes of snuggling with his sleeping husband, Hannibal looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table. It read twenty-two minutes past seven, and he knew that he would need to get out of bed soon to make Abigail's lunch; it was a custom he was becoming used to after Alana Bloom had mentioned that her own father had done that when she was a child. The idea hadn't left Hannibal's mind, and he decided to try it. Abigail had insisted that she was fine buying lunch at school, but when Hannibal had made her lunches anyway, she took them with her. She told him that his lunches tasted better than the school food after a week, and asked him to continue making them, which he was more than happy to do. Will would sometimes write a short note which would usually read 'Have a nice day' or 'I hope you do well on your test today' or (poorly) draw a picture on a sticky-note and put it in her lunchbag. It had come up in conversation once, Will becoming flustered at the topic, doing his best not to apologize although he severely wanted to, but calming down and becoming rather happy when Abigail had told him that her biological parents hadn't done that and she enjoyed that Will was doing it; it gave her a separation from her old life and added to the foundation for her new one.

After a quick kiss to Will's neck, Hannibal reluctantly pulled away from Will who subconsciously rolled over onto warm spot that Hannibal had previously occupied, sat on the edge of the bed and pulled on his dark green silk robe and slid his feet into his matching slippers. He stretched his arms and legs out in front of him and stood up slowly so as not to become light-headed. Quietly exiting their bedroom, he padded over to Abigail's room to ensure that she was awake. He stood outside of her room for a few moments, listening for any signs of motion. He heard a rustling of sheets, a yawn, and footsteps. He moved to walk away in case she exited her room, but instead he heard her turn on some music to listen to as she got ready for school. He sighed contentedly and walked downstairs to the kitchen.

He shielded his eyes as he entered the brightly-lit room and shuffled to the cabinet where he kept Abigail's lunchbag. She had picked it out when Hannibal had begun to make her lunches; she didn't want lunches in a paper bag. She had taken longer than Hannibal had expected to pick it out. She had been looking through the different options, moving them out of the way and pulling out the ones that caught her eye. She had decided on a neoprene-fabric lunchbag with a black background, white outlined flowers, and a red seem. The tag had read that it was the "Crazy Daisy" design, which made Hannibal chuckle. She had thought that it was juvenile of her to be excited over a lunchbag, especially as a senior in high school, but Hannibal assured her that it was to be expected, and Will had told her that it would aid her with the creation of her new life, which immediately made her satisfied with her feelings toward the subject.

Taking out the lunchbag and unzipping it, he contemplated the different options of lunch he could make for her. He could make a peanut butter sandwich, but he had done that the previous day. He decided on a ham and cheese sandwich – or, rather, a loin and cheese sandwich. He opened up the refrigerator and took out the container labeled 'Tenderloin' and the package of cheese. Placing them on the counter, he opened up the breadbox and took out the whole-wheat Wonderbread. He took two pieces of bread out from their bag and put the bag back in the breadbox. Placing the meat he had cooked to perfection the previous night, he thought back to when the two new loves of his life learned about his cannibalism.

Will had avoided him for a few months after he learned what Hannibal was. He felt betrayed that Hannibal had led him on for such a long time, had kept so much from him. Will's absence hurt both men, but eventually he showed up at Hannibal's office. The men spoke about it for almost three hours; Will had wanted to understand why, and Hannibal was more than willing to explain it to him. After a good portion of a bottle of wine and two and a half beers later, Will decided that he needed a bit more time to think it over. Hannibal agreed, and two weeks later, Hannibal found Will on his doorstep and told him that he had accepted what Hannibal was.

Abigail was much more understanding than Will, considering that her biological father had fed her and her mother human meat for years prior. Of course, she hadn't liked the fact that Hannibal's cannibalism didn't help her situation of trying to build herself a new life, but after he explained to her that he only ate the rude, she accepted it and hadn't thought twice about it since.

Coming back to the present, Hannibal placed three pieces of cheese on the sandwich, closed the package and container and replaced them in the refrigerator. He then opened up the fruit drawer and took out a red apple, closing the refrigerator door with his foot as he took the sticker off of the apple, then washing and drying it. He opened up one of the drawers and took out the apple cutter, smiling at the fact that Will still couldn't manage to locate anything in Hannibal's kitchen, even after he had given Will two tours of the room.

He cut the apple with grace and put the apple cutter into the sink to wash later. Entering the walk-in closet, he looked around for a snack to put in Abigail's lunch. She preferred to eat healthy, but she had discovered that she found Cool Ranch Doritos to be a tasty snack when she had spent some time with Alana. Hannibal searched for the bag of chips he knew they had, and took it off the shelf when he did and grabbed ad baggy as he exited the closet. He took a handful of chips out of the bag and put them in the baggie, washing the seasoning off of his hand before closing the bag and putting it back in the closet.

He found the green and blue sandwich container in the dishwasher, pleased that Abigail had done the dishes the night before. He put the food items in their respective containers and organized them in her lunchbox, then noticed that he was missing something. Just then, Will came up behind him and wrapped his arms around his husband's waist, his chin resting on Hannibal's shoulder.

"G'mornin'." Will said, his voice heavy with sleep.

"Good morning to you, too, Will. I didn't expect you to be up this early, especially with the events that occurred last night." Hannibal told him as he leaned his head against Will's.

Will gave a low chuckle, "Yeah, well I couldn't sleep with the lack of constant warmth next to me. Also I wanted to put a little note in Abby's lunchbag. She has a big math test today, and I think my notes help her out sometimes."

"Always the worrying father, Will." Hannibal smiled.

"Not worrying, just superstitious." Will corrected as Hannibal turned around and kissed Will gently.

Will sighed contentedly, "You forgot the celery and blueberries."

"Hmm?"

"Abby's lunch. You're missing the celery and blueberries."

"Ah, so it seems. Would you get them out for me?" Hannibal asked as Will pulled away from their embrace.

"Sure. I'll even wash 'em for you." Will winked at his cannibalistic husband as he opened the refrigerator door.

"You're too kind, William." Hannibal chuckled as he took out the containers he would use for the celery and blueberries.

As Hannibal put the freshly washed food into their respective containers and into the lunchbox, he took a napkin from its holder just to his left and placed it in the bag. Will put a yellow sticky-note in the lunchbag that read 'Good luck on your math test' and had a smiley face with a curl of hair and its tongue sticking out. The two men smiled at each other and Hannibal zipped up the lunchbag.

"What should we have for breakfast? Should we make pancakes or just have cereal?" Will asked, just as Abigail entered the kitchen.

"I think we should have pancakes." Abigail suggested.

"Good morning, Abby. Did you sleep well?" Hannibal asked, seeing how she would react by the nickname. Will was more comfortable calling her Abby, and Hannibal had decided to try it out.

"Really well, actually." She smiled at his use of her nickname, "You know what would make my morning even better?"

"Pancakes?"

"Exactly."

Hannibal agreed and the family made pancakes with 'bacon' for breakfast. He taught Abigail how to flip pancakes, which she picked up on quickly and easily, and she even attempted to teach Will how to do it. Will didn't learn it so easily, but he managed to flip one over, earning a round of cheers from the small family.

As eight-thirty rolled around, Abigail announced that she had to leave for school, as the bus picked her up at eight thirty-four. She grabbed her backpack and lunchbox and slid her shoes on.

"Bye dad," she said as she hugged Will, "Bye daddy." She said, hugging Hannibal.

"Bye, Abby. See you later." Will said as she hugged him.

"Have a nice day at school, Abby." Hannibal told her as she hugged him and ran out the front door.


	2. Preparing for the BBQ

**A/N: I don't own anything from Hannibal. I also refuse to acknowledge what happened to Georgia in episode 12. IMPORTANT: This chapter was going to end up being far too long, so I'm going to split it up into two chapters.  
**

****"Will, would you accompany me to the grocery store?" Hannibal asked, glancing up from his laptop, "I need to get some ingredients for tonight's supper."

"Yeah, I could go for that. What are you making?"

"A chipotle-marinated flank steak with garlic pull-apart bread. I have yet to make it for the first time; the directions are available on the iCookbook application on my laptop, and I'm curious to try it out. The flank is a grilled meal, should we invite some people from work over? We could have a barbecue tonight, and Abigail could bring a friend over if she'd like."

"That sounds like a great idea. When should we go?" Will asked, closing his copy of The Great Gatsby. He had read it in high school like everyone else, but forgot nearly all of it. He wasn't really paying attention to what was happening in it, getting distracted every few moments by the attractive man sitting across from him.

"It says that the meat has to be marinated for six hours and there is a thirty minute prep and cook time, and if it's ten o'clock now and we start cooking it at noon, we should leave within the hour to buy the ingredients."

"Jeez. I don't think I'll ever understand cooking, but if it says so, then let's get going." Will said as he put the book on the table next to the armchair he was comfortably seated in and stood up, stretching.

"I'm going to look through the kitchen and see what ingredients we will need that we don't currently have and I'll put them on the list. Is there anything you would like?"

Will thought for a moment, "We need more dog treats and we're almost out of dry food for the dogs." When Will moved in with him, Hannibal had agreed to have all of Will's dogs live with them, and they had spent a month building each dog its own dog house in the backyard. Will was uneasy about it at first, saying that he preferred the dogs sleep with them in their bedroom, but soon realized that it wouldn't be a good idea, seeing as they would be keeping the dogs awake for most of the night anyway, either with their rounds of sex or Will's nightmares. After a couple of weeks, the dogs became comfortable sleeping outside in their doghouses, and when it rained, Hannibal allowed the dogs to stay inside until the rain cleared up. He wasn't against the dogs being in the house all the time, but he also didn't want the furniture to become covered in dog hair. They were well-behaved dogs that didn't bark for the most part, and Hannibal found them to be good company when he was home alone.

Hannibal chuckled, "Is there anything that _you _want from the store?"

"Oh, ah, well, we need more celery for Abby and I'd like more Cheerios. Also I think we're out of eggs. Also, could we buy some… non-human bacon? Turkey bacon, to be more specific."

Hannibal smirked, "Of course, Will. I'm not opposed to eating animal meat."

Will nodded and reciprocated his husband's smirk, and went upstairs to change out of his pajamas and into real clothing. Hannibal wrote down what Will had said they needed to buy and added his own items to the list. He walked around the kitchen and noted that he needed to buy limes, chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, garlic cloves, and dry yeast. He checked the closet and cabinets for paper plates and utensils their guests could use, pursing his lips when he saw that he had none. He jotted down different drinks to have at the barbecue and went upstairs to get changed as well.

When they were both ready to go, they got into Hannibal's car and drove to the grocery store.

"What's adobo sauce?" Will asked looking at the shopping list as Hannibal pushed a shopping cart up next to him.

"It's a type of hot sauce or marinade in Mexican and Southwestern cuisines. Adobo is a Spanish word for "sauce" or "marinade," and the dark red adobo sauce is used in many contexts in Mexican food."

"Ah, so we're having Mexican tonight."

Hannibal chuckled heartily, thinking about the human that the choice of meat he would be cooking tonight came from, "Yes, we are."

Will thought about that for a moment before elbowing Hannibal in the side and joining him in laughter, "You are _horrible_."

"Careful, or I might add you to my 'Rude List.'" Hannibal winked at him.

Will considered making an 'eating him' joke of his own to that, but decided to drop it, instead asking, "So what's on the list? Should we split up so we can be finished sooner?"

"I think that would be best," Hannibal took the shopping list and carefully ripped it in half, giving Will the half with their food items and keeping the half with the ingredients, "You get the things we need, and I will get the ingredients."

"That works." Will took the half-list and grabbed a shopping basket from the entrance as Hannibal walked toward the Mexican food aisle, "Let's see, which way are the vegetables?"

**oOo**

"I found everything on my list." Will said as he found Hannibal in the paper products aisle.

"Hmm."

Putting the items in the shopping basket, "Looking for anything in particular?"

"Plates and utensils."

"You don't have paper plates or plastic forks and knives at home?"

"Unfortunately not. I have yet to host my first outdoor dinner party. I have never found paper plates and plastic utensils to be…"

"Classy?"

Hannibal smirked, "Yes, I suppose 'classy' would work in this situation."

"I should have expected that from you," a smile gracing Will's lips, "Always classy, never trashy."

**oOo**

"I bought you something." Hannibal said to Will as they put the newly bought food into their respective places in the kitchen.

"Oh, what is it?"

Hannibal pulled it out of one of the shopping bags and handed it to him, "A cooking apron."

A smile graced Will's lips, "Thanks. Does this mean you're expecting me to help you… cook?" he asked skeptically.

"If you wish. I don't expect you to flambé anything anytime soon, but I would enjoy your company in the kitchen with me, and not to have you be in there simply eating scraps while watching me cook."

"Ah, I suppose I could cut stuff and put things in the oven. I'm really not that skilled with cooking…"

"Not to worry, Will. I'll teach you. Soon, you may be as good as Abigail."

"Yeah, I doubt it. It's sorta sad that my own…," Will was still not comfortable with referring to Abigail as his daughter, even though he had no problem referring to himself as her father, "Someone younger than me is better at stuff like this. I lived on my own for a while so I know the basics, but I can't do anything fancy." He admitted.

"That's because you haven't tried. The only reason Abigail knows how to do things like that is because I've taught her, and she picks up on things quickly. It's not a bad thing that you don't know how to do things that she can, it's simply the way things are."

"I see what you're saying, but that doesn't mean I like it. But anyway, who should we invite tonight?" Will asked, trying to change the subject. Hannibal sighed and allowed it.

"I was thinking Alana, Jack and Bella, and Beverley. And one or two of Abigail's friends, if she'd like."

Will took an inward sigh of relief, thankful that it was people he was at least relatively comfortable being around, although Jack still freaked him out, "Could we invite Georgia, too?"

Hannibal shifted slightly, "Of course. Shall you call them up, or shall I?" he asked, although he already knew the answer.

"Er… I really don't-"

"Not a problem, I'll do it. I know how you feel about things like that."

"Why did you ask me to do it, then?" Will laughed awkwardly.

He thought for a moment, "I was curious to see what you would do. No matter, would you please get out a medium sized bowl, a food-safe plastic bag, and a cutting board while I call up our friends?"

Will nodded, "I'll text Abby."

Hannibal went into the living room to call their guests, and Will pulled out his phone to text Abigail, leaning on the countertop in the kitchen.

Abigail pulled out her phone to see a text from Will waiting to be answered. She read it, and immediately turned to her friends she was eating lunch with, "Hey guys, my dads are having a barbecue tonight. Interested in going?"

Abigail had missed a substantial amount school the year before and decided to complete her senior year. She would be a year behind, but she, Hannibal, and Will agreed that it would be beneficial for her to go back. She had been wary of making friends when she came to her new school, and was thankful that no one had approached her right away. When she was paired up for a project with two other girls, she felt like it was time for her to start making friends again. In a matter of weeks, the three girls had become close friends. Nithya was a dark skinned girl with medium-length black hair, and her other friend, Chloe, was a Scottish girl with long, curly hair.

"Where's it gonna be at?" Nithya asked.

"My house, I'm guessing."

"I'll have to ask my mom, but sure, it sounds like fun. I'd like to meet your dads." Chloe told her.

"Same here. What's your address?" Nithya asked, pulling out her phone, and Abigail told them the address.

"What time should we come over?" asked Chloe as she stuffed some chips into her mouth.

"I'll ask my dad. Hold on." Abigail thought it would be easier just to call Will instead of waiting for him to text her back. She dialed his number and listened to the phone ring two times.

"Hey, Abby. What's... What's up?" Will's voice asked awkwardly over the phone.

"I got your text. My friends Nithya and Chloe said they could probably go. What time should they come over?"

There was a moment of silence before Will answered, "Uh, five-thirty or six."

"Five-thirty, six o'clockish." She told the two girls, "I'll be at home, right?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, thanks, dad."

"No problem."

Abigail hung up and said that yes, it would be at her house.

Will put his phone back in his pocket as Hannibal reentered the kitchen. Will told him that Abigail was bringing two friends, and Hannibal nodded, still on the phone with someone. He moved the phone away from his mouth and told him, "Beverley wants to know if Brian Zeller and Jimmy Price can come along. They're staying in her home until theirs is finished being renovated."

"Oh, uh, I…," He liked Beverley well enough to consider her a friend, and it would be impolite to invite her and not her house guests, "Sure, I guess."

"Yes, they're more thank welcome to come, Beverley," a pause, "Oh, by all means, yes. That would be lovely. Thank you." Another pause, "See you then." Hannibal ended the call and turned to Will, joining him in leaning on the counter.

"What's lovely?" Will asked.

"Other than you?" he winked, and Will rolled his eyes, his cheeks flushing pink, "Beverley said she will bring deviled eggs. And Bella offered to bring fruit cobbler for dessert."

"I guess this is turning into a full-out barbeque, then."

"So it seems. Will you help me marinate the meat?" Hannibal asked as he went to the refrigerator, "Since we'll be cooking for eleven people tonight, and the recipe serves only four, we'll need to make three flank steaks, and do everything three times."

"Sure… I guess I should start getting used to… cooking _people_."

"Just imagine that the meat is animal. It will help." He assured him.

Will took the cardboard paper label off of his new apron and slipped it on, reading what it said on the front, "Kiss the cook? Really?"

"Would you rather it be a full-torso of a muscular man in a speedo?" Hannibal joked.

"No, no. This is fine." He said quickly, tying it in the back.

"Ah, perfect. I have four flanks; that will be more than enough." Will grimaced, not wanting to think about how they were acquired. Hannibal took three of the flanks out of the refrigerator and placed them on the countertop, "Would you find me the limes, lime juice, chipotle chilies, and garlic, please?" Hannibal was getting into his cooking mode.

Will searched the refrigerator for a lime, the bottle of lime juice, and the chilies. He set them on the countertop and went to the closet for the garlic, "How much garlic?"

"Two cloves." Hannibal gathered the cilantro and brown sugar and took out a grater, measuring spoons, and knife set, "We also need two measuring cups. They're in the third drawer to the left."

Will opened the drawer, "Jeez, how many measuring cups does one man _need_?" he asked sarcastically, noting that Hannibal had four.

"I need them for the dry and wet ingredients. It's not sanitary to use one measuring cup for everything, and mixing the dry with the wet causes the dry to stick to the inside of the cup." He informed him just as he took out a second cutting board. Will nodded and took one out and placed it on the counter next to the other ingredients.

"What's first?"

"We make the marinade. We'll need one/third cup of lime juice, would you do that?"

Will nodded again and poured the lime juice, "Should I put it in the bowl?"

"Yes. Good. Now, we need a quarter cup of chopped fresh cilantro. I'll do that, and you can add in a tablespoon of brown sugar."

Hannibal began to mince the cilantro, mesmerizing Will for a moment with his quick and efficient movements. Shaking himself out of his daze, he opened the pack of brown sugar and measured one tablespoon and dropped the correct amount into the bowl. Hannibal grabbed a measuring cup and tossed the minced ingredient into it, making sure he had enough and when he did, he dumped the contents into the bowl, "Good. Now the adobo sauce and chilies." He took the can out of the refrigerator and used a can opener to open the lid. Discarding the lid in the trash can, he took one chili out and looked to Will, "I want you to cut it."

"What, me?" Will asked, hesitant.

"Seeing as you are the only other _living _human in the room, yes. Come here." Hannibal motioned for him to stand with him.

Will walked to the space cautiously, "Are you sure you want _me_ to?"

"Yes, Will, I'm sure. But don't worry, I'll be right here with you. Here, use this knife." He instructed, handing Will a medium-sized knife.

"I-I don't think-"

"It'll be alright. I'll help you." Standing behind him, pressed against his back, Hannibal adjusted Will's hand on the knife handle and put his own on top of his husband's, "Hold it firmly. Slow and steady movements, but make sure to use enough pressure," He said his voice a low rumble in Will's ear, "We need to cut off the stem first." Hannibal lifted Will's hand and moved it to the chili that was resting on the cutting board, "Hold the chili so it doesn't move." Will did so, Hannibal's free hand resting on his. "Good. Now, cut." He guided Will's hand so the knife was positioned correctly on the chili and they began cutting it, moving their fingers away from the knife as needed, "Stack a few of the pieces on top of each other, just like that. Now cut them." The men cut the stack and made two more and cut those, too. "Very good. Now we cut those pieces, like so."

When the chili was properly minced, Hannibal had Will confirm that it was one teaspoon, and Will put it into the marinade mix.

"I want you to do the second one." He told Will. Will was still hesitant, but managed to complete it on his own in about three minutes.

Hannibal taught Will how to mince garlic and had him mince the two cloves needed. He used the measuring spoons to measure two tablespoons of adobo sauce from the can of chilies. Using a wooden spoon, he mixed the marinade a bit before making the last ingredient.

"And last, we need one teaspoon of freshly grated lime peel. Do you think you can handle that?" Hannibal asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'll give it a go." Will peeled the sticker off of the lime, stuck it onto Hannibal's apron (partly because he wanted to be flirty, and partly because he still didn't know where the trashcan was located in the kitchen), and washed off the lime.

"You know how to grate, yes?"

"Yeah… Relatively." He brought the lime up to the grater and began grating. On the third grate, he winced, "Agh. I think… Yeah, I cut myself. Dammit." He said as he brought his finger up to inspect it.

Hannibal moved around the counter to inspect it also, tsking. Taking Will's hand in his, looking closely at the small cut on his husband's finger, he slowly brought the finger to his lips and took it in his mouth, gently sucking on the wounded area, his tongue lightly grazing it, licking away the blood. Will stood there, unknowing of what to do, and unable to take his eyes off of Hannibal's, his cheeks flushing red again. Hannibal released Will's now slightly swollen finger and lowered his hand to his side, and closing the space between them, pressing Will up against the edge of the counter. Will put his hands down next to him on the counter to hold himself up, Hannibal's hands slipping in between Will's hips and arms, also holding himself up.

Will was about to ask what Hannibal was doing, but decided against it; he had a pretty good idea of what the Lithuanian man was doing. And he got the hint. Gaining a rare sense of confidence, Will leaned up and pressed his lips to Hannibal's, who eagerly returned it. He could taste the slight irony flavor on Hannibal's lips as he ran his tongue across them.

Hannibal pulled away all too soon, much to Will's displeasure, and scraped the grated lime into the bowl.

"Ah, should-shouldn't we, you know, put some _new_ grated lime in?" Will asked, slightly out of breath.

"It's all the same, in the end." Hannibal smiled deviously at Will, who grimaced at the truth in the statement.

Hannibal mixed the marinade in the bowl, covered the flank in it, and put it in the refrigerator. After Will found himself a bandaid to put on his wound, the men repeated the marinade process two more times, Will being more careful while grating the lime the following times.

"Now what?" Will asked as he washed the spicy ingredients off of his hands.

"Now, we wait. I suppose we should get out the napkins and plates we will be using tonight, so let's prepare for our guests." With that, the men got to work.

**A/N: Please give me more ideas. I'm running out. Reviews are greatly appreciated! Also, the Chipotle-Marinated Flank Steak is an actual recipe on the iCookbook app on the Acer Aspire V5 Touch Laptop. I was looking for meals that Hannibal could make, and I found that one. It's great because it has the ingredients, preparation, tips, and steps. It also provides the time, serving, theme (grill, etc), nutrition, and difficulty. I'm in love with this app.**


	3. The BBQ

**A/N:** I do apologize for this chapter taking so long. I wanted to get this chapter up before I leave for France tomorrow. As always, please let me know of any ideas you have for a chapter. I would love to hear what you all think!

"Abby, could you get that?" Will called from the kitchen as the doorbell rang.

"On it!"

Will heard the front door open, followed by polite "Hellos."

"Beverly and the sassy husbands are here." Abigail announced as she led them into the living room.

"Abigail, don't be rude. You know what happens to the rude." Hannibal chided, Abigail rolling her eyes and going back upstairs into her bedroom as he entered the living room, "Hello Beverly, Jimmy, Brian. How are you this evening?"

"As well as we can be. Beverly's deviled eggs were stinking up the car." Brian said, earning him a smack on the arm from said woman.

"It was not, and you know it." Before either men could make a comment to that, she turned her attention to Hannibal, "Is anyone else here yet, or are we the first ones?"

"Jack and Bella arrived not too long ago. They're outside. Shall we join them?" Hannibal motioned for them to follow him, and he led them outside.

**vOv**

The doorbell rang again, and Abigail, smiling, opened the door to find Chloe and Nithya standing on the front porch, "Hey, Chloe, Hey, Nithya. I'm glad you guys could make it."

"Thanks for having us. My mom made me bring her stupid potato salad. Does anyone even eat potato salad?" Chloe asked with a mixture of sarcasm and seriousness.

"Maybe the adults will, who knows. Come on in, anyway. You can take off your shoes if you'd like; we're going to be eating outside and the ground isn't wet."

The girls stepped inside the house, looking around at the elaborate design of the interior and slid off their shoes.

"Damn. I don't know what I expected, but it sure wasn't this." Nithya admitted.

"Want a quick tour? My dads want to meet you. We're all outside in the back. Oh, and I have six dogs. Are either of you allergic?"

"Nope, not allergic. But a tour would be great. Do you have fancy soap in your bathroom that I can steal?" Nithya asked, earning her a jab in the ribs from Abigail.

"Six dogs? Holy cow. Does your family collect them or something?" Chloe asked.

"Ah… Something like that. My dad will take home any stray that he finds. He says they're lonely and scared, and that he can relate to it from his past."

"That's… positive and reassuring. But that's too bad for him." Nithya said sympathetically.

"Yeah, my dad's really helped him out with that. But anyway, let me give you a quick tour."

Abigail led them through the living room, showed them where the powder room was, ("You _do_ have fancy soaps!"), the dining room, and finally brought them into the kitchen where Hannibal was.

"Hey, daddy. These are my friends, Nithya and Chloe."

Hannibal greeted them with a friendly smile and wiped his hands off with a rag, "Pleased to meat you, girls. I am Mr. Lecter." He extended his hand, shaking hands with the girls.

"Thank you for having us over, Mr. Lecter. You have a very interesting taste in interior design. I love the warm colors; it's very cozy. I also like your use of the antlers. I noticed that most of the antlers aren't attached to the head of an animal. Any reason why?" Nithya asked as she shook his hand.

"Thank you, Nithya. It took me quite a while to do the whole house, but I had it completed in about two years. It was truly a feat. As for the antlers, I find that the antlers hold the beauty in the creatures they belong to. Also, I find it unnerving to have a stag head watching me when I'm drinking my morning coffee." He smirked.

"I have to agree with you on that. It would give me the creeps."

"Yeah, me too." Chloe agreed, "Oh, my mom made me… Made some potato salad. She puts some spices in it that I can't even begin to pronounce, but I hope you like it." She gave him a charming smile and shook his hand, handing him the container.

"I'm sure it will be delicious, thank you for bringing it. Please tell your mother that we are very grateful for it."

"Oh, I will."

"Let's go outside. I have some more people I want you guys to meet."

Abigail led her friends outside and was immediately greeted by the six dogs. "They won't bite, they'll just jump and lick you."

Nithya and Chloe kneeled down to the dogs' levels, patting their heads and letting them smell their hands.

"What are their names?" Nithya asked.

"The brown fluffy one is Winston. He's the newest one in our little pack. The border collie is Maximillion, Max for short. The one that looks like a big Jack Russell is Hugh, the fluffy golden one is Casper, this big brown one," she kneeled down to their levels and rubbed the dog's back, "He's Sebastian. And this little guy is Buster."

"They're just precious, Abby. They must eat a lot." Chloe noted.

"No shit, Sherlock." Nithya rolled her eyes.

"I'm just saying! Jeez. Did you forget to drink your prune juice this morning or something?" Chloe responded.

"What does that even _mean_?"

Chloe paused for a minute, a smile crossing her face, "I have no idea, actually. Some kid named Chet said that about our PE teacher in middle school." She laughed at that, Nithya giving her a look.

"Oh, uh, sorry, girls. Are the dogs bothering you?" Came Will's nervous voice as he made his way over to them.

"Oh, not at all. They're just looking for some loving." Chloe said, giving Sebastian's back a good pat.

"Dad, this is Nithya, and this is Chloe." Abigail introduced.

"Nice to meet you." Will gave an awkward nod of the head to them, seeing as his hands were full with trays and containers of food, "You can… You can just call me Will." _Using last names is too formal_. He thought.

"Would you like some help with the food?" Nithya offered.

"No, I got it. Um, thanks though. Nice meeting you." Will walked off to set the food out on a long table.

"He's not very social, is he?" Nithya noted.

"Not really. He's pretty antisocial, and he's still healing from something that happened a few years ago." Abigail told them.

Not wanting to pry, for once, Nithya remained silent. Chloe, on the other hand, was distracted by Hannibal, who had just walked past them and she was admiring the view. He walked right past Will, who was obviously struggling with setting all of the food and containers down onto the table. Just as she was thinking that someone should help him, a woman with long black hair and a professional air walked in through the back gate and hurried to help him, preventing a platter full of vegetables from falling to the ground.

"Thanks, Alana." Will said as she took the platter.

"No problem, Will." They placed the different dishes in eating order; dinner foods on one end, desserts on the other end of the table. "Thanks for inviting me over. I could really use some out-of-the-house time."

"Yeah, of course. I know how you feel. How, uh, how did you get back here, anyway?"

"No one answered when I rang the bell, so I figured you would all be out back. Looks like I got here just in time, too."

"Who's that chick over there with your dad, Abby?" Nithya asked, looking at Alana and Will.

"Oh, that's Doctor Alana Bloom. She helped me out when I was going through that thing with my biological family. She also helped my dad when he was going through some rough times. She works with my dad and the people sitting at the table over there." Abigail informed them, pointing to Jack, Bella, Beverly, and Jimmy and Brian, "They all work together. My dads don't really get out too much. But they're happy with it, so I don't really think about it. Come on, I want to introduce you to her."

**vOv**

"When will the… _Meat_ be ready?" Will asked.

"It's nearly done, no worries. I would say about five more minutes." Hannibal responded.

Will glanced around to make sure no one was within ear shot before asking, "Isn't it supposed to… You know… Smell bad?"

Hannibal smiled and gave Will a look, "It's the flesh that smells, Will. Not the meat." He nudged him with his elbow, "You should know that, considering your line of work."

"My line of work has nothing to do with that. I work with bodies after they've been killed, not while it's still happening. Anyway, I'm going to check on the garlic bread. I hope it didn't burn. But with my luck, it'll be burnt worse than that one lady in that Supernatural show Abigail likes to watch."

"Oh? What happened to her?" Hannibal inquired.

"She burned on the ceiling. Don't ask me how or why." He added when Hannibal gave him a questioning look, "I don't understand those shows she watches. I'm going to get the garlic bread."

Surprisingly, the garlic bread hadn't burned to a crisp. Proud of his work, Will was about to take it outside, but stopped when he heard a knock at the door. Setting down the bread, he made his way to the front door, and his smile grew and his shoulders relaxed.

"Hey, Georgia."

"Hi, Will. I'm so sorry for being late. I took a nap and I overslept."

"Not a problem, George. Come on in. You got here just in time. I actually just took out the garlic bread that I made."

"That you made? All by yourself?"

"Is it really that surprising?" Will asked, suddenly becoming self-conscious of his cooking skills.

"A little bit, yeah. But I'm sure it'll taste great. I can smell it from here. Oh, I made some rocky road brownies. My mom and I made them all the time when I still lived at home."

"You seem pretty confident about it, eh?"

Georgia gave a smug smile, "Well, I like to think that I've perfected it over the years."

"I'm sure you have. Come on out back. We're starving."

She followed him into the kitchen, helped him put the garlic bread onto a plate, and the two went to the backyard to join the group. Georgia was greeted by the other guests, and Abigail introduced her to her friends.

"Is that a Scottish accent I hear, Chloe?" Georgia asked.

"It is, actually. I moved here from Scotland two years ago with my family."

"That smells delicious, Will. Did you make that yourself?" Bella asked, turning to him.

"I did, actually. First time, too." He smiled.

"I can't wait to try it. What kind of bread is it?"

"Garlic pull-apart bread. I hope it turned out okay…"

"If it tastes even half as good as it smells, it'll be superb." She smiled, placing a reassuring hand on his upper arm.

"The steak is cooked, please help yourself to anything on the table." Hannibal announced to the group, who stood up and made their way to the table of food. They each took a paper plate and a good portion of the flank, filling them up as much as they could. The deviled eggs ran out quickly, much to Beverly's liking, finding it even more humorous when she discovered that it was Brian who was eating most of them.

Hannibal and Will were the last ones to serve themselves, and they took the opportunity of being away from the group to talk.

"Abigail's friends look nothing like her." Will stated.

"Yes, is there anything peculiar about that?"

"Yeah. But not in a bad way. It's just another way that she's separating herself from her old life, creating a new one. You remember how the girls her father killed looked just like her?"

"I remember. Very observational of you, Will. I hadn't caught that. It makes sense. Having friends that don't look like her put her in the mindset that she won't have to aid in killing them. I wonder if she is doing it purposefully or subconsciously."

"Probably both. Just stored in the back of her mind and her subconscious is making her do it."

"I'm glad for it. They seem like nice girls, and I hope we won't have to… Have them for supper sometime."

Will scoffed and elbowed his husband in the ribs.

**vOv**

"So, Abigail. Are you thinking about college for next year? I haven't heard anything on the topic from Will or Hannibal." Alana asked Abigail.

Abigail shook her head and swallowed the food that was in her mouth, "I'm going to take a year off. I'm not ready for college life just yet. I haven't had time to really think about my future yet."

"Maybe you could go into criminal justice or help out Beverly in the lab." She took a sip of her wine.

"I've considered that, actually. I think what you all do is really interesting, and we all know that I don't get freaked out when I see a dead body." She laughed nervously, "But I don't know anything about psychology and why a killer would do what and how. Maybe I'll just become an elementary school teacher."

Alana chuckled, "Maybe you will. Or you could follow in my footsteps and become a psychiatrist."

"Maybe I will."


End file.
